Tuesday, July 29, 2014

I was not the least surprised that LUCY made $44M & became no. 1 at the box office this past weekend. I was surprised to see a glowing review by a fellow female writer. Did we watch the same film? I approached the film with a bit of caution. Director, Luc Besson is best known for his masterpiece THE PROFESSIONAL & THE FIFTH ELEMENT, but in recent years he has released some lackluster films (THE TRANSPORTER series). I really wanted to like LUCY, but I just couldn’t. It's basically a few poorly done MATRIX shots wrapped up in a black Versace dress.

Most complaints lie with the seriously flawed plot. That aspect didn’t bother me as much since I did not plan on watching a documentary going in to LUCY. I do not watch films to critique the scientific accuracies. Cinema is a form of art. You cannot expect an artist to logically explain a piece, so why do it with film? This was a major issue with the film GRAVITY as well. The genre of science fiction exists because it is just that…fiction. Moving past the plot, the bigger flaws lie within the script. This film is riddled with bad acting and even worse writing. Do all actions films lack dept? The film tries desperately to be ever so thought provoking, but falls very flat. It's as if someone who skimmed the Cliff's Notes explaining Jean Paul Sarte philosophies.

The main point of the article I read is to prove that women can carry a successful film. I certainly support this notion, but this is not the film to demonstrate that idea. I agree we need more female driven films in strong roles. We need women taking on bigger roles outside of the cheesy romantic comedy. I certainly hope this turd doesn’t lead to a Black Widow film like everyone anticipates. When will people realize ScarJo is not a great actress? The Black Widow character could be really great, but ScarJo’s uninspired acting takes her in a very one dimensional direction.

The solution to this predicament is to start with better writers. It’s no secret that the film industry is a man’s world. The industry is saturated with male producers, directors, and writers. Many of whom are not capable of writing a well developed female character. Lars Von Trier has built a career on extremely complex female characters. His leading ladies are far from the stereotypical manic-pixie-dream-girl. It’s easy for men to feel alienated and uncomfortable watching his films as a result. We’ve had amazing female characters throughout the years such as Ellen Ripley, Beatrix Kiddo, and Sarah Connor. However, in the last two decades the strong female character has drastically faded. Unfortunately, most women in recent action films only exist as eye candy. They have the typical tough exterior like a wild tiger that needs a little taming by Vin Diesel or Jason Stratham.

I’m sorry to say that LUCY is not going to revolutionize the film industry. It had a big start, and gradually descended into stupidity. I’m also sorry to say that Luc Besson pretty much peaked with THE PROFESSIONAL. How can a film about being the smartest person in existence be the dumbest film of the year? Don’t bother wasting your time.